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Animation System

ASCII Motion features a frame-by-frame animation system designed for creating ASCII art animations with full control over timing and playback.

Key Features

Info

The animation system supports multi-frame selection for batch operations, making it easy to manage complex animations.

Frame-by-Frame Editing

Create animations by drawing on individual frames:

  • Single frame mode - Work on one frame at a time
  • Add frames - Click the + button to add new frames
  • Duplicate frames - Copy existing frames with Ctrl/Cmd+D
  • Delete frames - Remove unwanted frames with Del/Backspace

Multi-Frame Selection

Select multiple frames for batch operations:

Click on a frame in the timeline to select it

Hold Shift and click another frame to select a range

Hold Ctrl/Cmd and click to add/remove individual frames from selection

Right-click for batch operations on selected frames

Batch Operations

When multiple frames are selected:

OperationDescription
Duplicate RangeCopy all selected frames at once
Delete RangeRemove all selected frames
Reorder RangeDrag selected frames to new position
Copy/PasteCopy frame content across selections

Timeline Features

The timeline panel shows all frames in your animation:

  • Frame thumbnails - Visual preview of each frame
  • Frame duration - Set timing per frame (in milliseconds)
  • Frame reordering - Drag and drop to rearrange
  • Frame labels - Optional names for organization

Performance

Info

The animation system is optimized for 60 FPS playback even with 30+ frames, ensuring smooth preview of your work.

Getting Started

  1. Start with your first frame already visible
  2. Draw your initial ASCII art
  3. Click + to add a new frame
  4. Modify the content for the next step of animation
  5. Repeat until your animation is complete
  6. Press Space to preview playback

Next Steps